A media source claims that the claimed episode of racist abuse occurred during a Test match between the Springboks and England in November 2022, rather than at Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final in France. This has led to an unusual turn in the Bongi Mbonambi-Tom Curry story.
The latest details come as a bit of a surprise because, approximately thirty minutes into the semi-final, Curry asked New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe directly what he should do if Bongi Mbonambi branded him a “white c***.”
O’Keeffe responded, “Nothing please.”
Curry was questioned, per AFP, whether Mbonambi, who also seemed to decline to shake the England player’s hand at the conclusion of the match, had said something he had taken offense to after South Africa defeated England 16–15 to advance to the final.
The 25-year-old said, “Yeah,” before adding, “It doesn’t need to be discussed.”
However, the claimed incident occurred during the Springboks’ 27-13 victory against England at Twickenham, according to Netzwerk24. For this reason, it appears that World Rugby is taking longer than anticipated to look into the problem.
During that November game, there was a bit of a run-in between the two players, with each of them clutching each other’s jerseys in a furious exchange.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Dominic Rumbles, the chief communications officer for World Rugby, acknowledged that the investigation into Bongi Mbomambi is still ongoing and that there is no deadline for its completion.
However, in order to prepare for Saturday’s World Cup final matchup against the All Blacks, the Springboks desire that the Mbonambi case be resolved as quickly as feasible.
As soon as we have something new to report, we’ll let you know. The goal is to complete the evaluation as soon as feasible, according to Rumbles.
“We will provide an update as soon as we can, with the first phase of the review focusing on gathering evidence.”
